


A Sort Of Homecoming

by RandyWrites



Series: Canon Noncompliance [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman Beyond, Teen Titans
Genre: Gen, OCs - Freeform, Self-Indulgent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-11-02
Packaged: 2018-12-31 01:18:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12121407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandyWrites/pseuds/RandyWrites
Summary: Terry McGinnis is part of a legacy, one that has been lost to many of the history books. He was never one to be overly curious about that legacy, of course, but Bruce Wayne's 90th birthday prompts a very... unconventional family reunion. As each member of this newfound family passes along their wisdom to Terry, he can't help but feel the true weight of the mantle of the Bat.//I'll admit this work is a very self-indulgent way to cram as many of Batman's allies in one cohesive narrative. If no one else enjoys it, at least *I* enjoyed putting the idea out there for myself to read over again.





	1. Introducing...

Not many things could shock Terry McGinnis any more. Having worked with Bruce Wayne for the past two years under the guise of a 'personal assistant', Terry had opportunity for... a wide variety of experiences.

However, Wayne's 90th birthday celebration should have come to a close several hours ago, and yet so many 'old friends' seemed unable to see themselves out.

As far as Terry could tell, a lot of them at least looked like they could be related to Bruce or even just each other in some form or fashion. A lot gray-haired men and bright-eyed women who chatted and laughed like the years apart had only been hours.

Watching and wondering how each of these people knew Bruce personally, he had been shocked out of his reverie by a gentle hand on his shoulder. Commissioner Gordon, dressed to the nines just like everyone else for this black-tie occasion.

"You know, it's unfair of Bruce not to introduce you to the rest of your bat-family." She smiled as she started to guide him to the rest of the group.

"My what-family?"

"Did he forget to mention just how many disciples he made over his... Actually does anyone here know how long Bruce has been at this? It feels like a lifetime!"

A few of those closest to Barbara and Terry chuckled along with her, others still engrossed in their own conversations.

One of the youngest-looking ladies held out a hand for Terry to shake and introduced herself. Her hair was similar to Barbara's in color, but her eyes hadn't lost their bright green hue from the years that had passed. She was probably only a few years younger than Terry's mother.

"Carrie Kelley, I was one of the last Robins-"

"And the _worst_ -" One of the men interrupted Carrie with a smirk on his face. His tie hung undone around his neck, and his teal eyes looked tired. Like he missed out on sleep and never found the time to catch up. Terry took note of his dark hair, and the patch of white hair at one side of his temple. Something, or maybe someone, had put him under a lot of stress at some point.

"Shut up, Todd, my father never made it a secret that you were the most _insubordinate_ ," another black-haired man interrupted the first. Other than his having a much darker complexion than most of them, Terry could have sworn he was the spitting image of a younger Bruce Wayne, right down to the perfectly kept hair and the rigid posture that he held himself with.

An asian women with cropped black hair signed something rapidly with her hands, Terry only caught the words 'contest' and 'sheep', but Carrie and Barbara both laughed.

"Speaking of black sheep," Carrie said, "Did Dick and Rae make it? I've seen their kids around but no sign of them!"

"Ya know how Rae is, she wanted to wait till the crowd died down before sneaking in. She and Dick have been checking out how the cave's changed. It's been a few years for him," the first man explained, then reached out a hand to Terry as well. "Jason Todd, by the way. And don't let these guys fool ya, I was the _best_ Robin."

"Even better _Red Hood_ if you ask me," the second man scoffed before turning to Terry as well. "Damian Wayne, estranged son of Batman."

The asian woman signed something else that had everyone laughing as Damian's ears turned red.

Barbara wrapped her arm around the woman's shoulders and gestured with her drink to introduce her.

"This is Cassandra. Likes to go by Cass. She's taken on a few different identities but she was one of my Batgirls early on. Don't let the sign language fool you, she's probably the most dangerous one out of any of us."

"But we've always known that Cass is the best!" Another lady with white hair joined in and wrapped one of her own arms around Cass.

"You can call me Steph, Terry. Batgirl number three! Bruce has told all of us so much about you."

Terry blinked for a few seconds in shock, and everyone started laughing at his gaping expression.

"What do you mean? Bruce _talks_ about me?"

"Ain't that just like Bruce, not telling the kid how much he loves him?" Jason shook his head.

"Old habits," Barbara reasoned, and a couple more chuckles were earned.

"Oh, Terry! I bet you still haven't met the rest of the family yet, have you?" Steph reached for his hand before he had time to answer. "Let's remedy that! Helena! Tim!"

She interrupted another group's conversation as she brought Terry over and introduced him.

She pointed to each person in the semicircle that formed as they joined.

"Tiffany Fox, another former Batgirl. Helena Kyle-Wayne, Huntress. Duke Thomas, who was another Robin and then the Signal. Timothy Drake, Red Robin-"

" _Yummm_ ," Duke, Tiffany, Helena and another woman sang in unison. Tim lightly punched Duke's arm as the other women all laughed.

"And finally Harper Row, Bluebird," Steph finished.

"Steph, this kid doesn't care about Batman's small-time allies. He has no clue who anyone really is past Babs and Bruce, let's be real." Harper shook her head with a knowing smile on her face as she said this. She wasn't bitter about being a 'small-time' ally, she spoke as someone who clearly had accepted her place in the history books long ago.

"I'm honestly just shocked that Bruce even knew this many people, much less that you all seem to... _actually_ care about him."

"He really has a special way to piss each us of off, for sure," Tim chuckled.

"C'mon guys, if Dad wasn't so likable, none of you would've stuck around as long as you did," Helena reasoned, then stuck out her hand for Terry to shake. "It is nice to finally meet you Terry. I'm sure my dad's been tougher on _you_ than any of _them_."

"I'm sorry, I had no idea that Bruce had-"

"This many amazing kids?" Tiffany interrupted him. "I think Bruce went so crazy with adopting and taking so many in, he forgot that a couple here and there were actually his."

Duke, Harper, Tim and Steph all laughed at this. Helena smiled and gave Tiffany a side-hug.

"At least I got the best big brothers and sisters a girl could've asked for."

"Speaking of brothers and sisters," stepping between Helena and Duke, another younger, raven-haired man joined the fray and asked, "have any of you seen Rebecca? Mom's been looking for her all night, and Dad's about to put out a bounty for her." Terry was struck by his eyes, bright purple in tone that seemed to catch the light and hold it; they had a certain magical quality to them.

"Chris! Have you met Terry yet?" Steph questioned, as everyone else gave a shrug to the new man.

"It's nice to meet you Terry, I'm Richard and Raven's son. Me and my sister were really more about joining the _Titans_ than the Bats but-"

"And I was raised to be more of a _cat_ than a _bat_ , but, again, this family has a way of adopting you into it anyways," Helena interrupted.

"Looking for me, bro?" Another woman seemed to materialize between Chris and Helena, startling everyone. A few people chuckled at her antics as Chris playfully punched her arm. Having the siblings stand right next to each other, they almost appeared like twins with their black hair, and outfits matched in two near identical shades of blue. But one of the big differences between the two, had to be their eyes. While Chris had deep purple irises, Rebecca's were a clear, light blue that almost seemed to sparkle with mischief.

"You _goof_ , Mom's been trying to hunt you down-"

"-and stop me from pulling off some of the greatest pranks this mansion has yet to see?" she winked at Terry conspiratorially. Terry had a sinking feeling he was meant to be the butt of most of those pranks.

"You ever think this might be why my dad rarely invites you guys over!?" Helena laughed at them.

"Please, Poppa Bruce loves me," Rebecca boasted, "Always says I remind him of Dad. With just a few hints of Aunt Steph." She and Steph quickly performed a small, but elaborate handshake as Rebecca crossed over to the other side of the group. She took her place between Steph and Terry, wrapping her arm over his shoulders.

"And you must be Gotham's latest and greatest Dark Knight, huh? You've got a pretty big cowl to fill."

The conversation seemed to skip a beat as Terry wasn't sure how to respond to her. It wasn't like he hadn't thought about the legacy that he was helping to continue and that he was now a part of but...

All of these legends that had either lived on in glory or faded away into Gotham's background...

It was beginning to dawn on him that they were just as much a part of that legacy as well.

And then his thoughts were brought back to the conversation at hand, as he felt all their eyes boring into him.

"Uh, yeah, I guess so." He rubbed the back of his neck as the conversation returned to a game of catch-up for these old friends. And before he knew it, Bruce snuck in and stole him away.

"Terry, you haven't met some of my older friends yet, have you?" Bruce asked as they approached a final group all about Barbara's age. The Commissioner herself was chatting among them.

"Everyone this is-"

"Terry McGinnis," Terry introduced himself first, tired of letting others introduce him. "I- I'm the new Batman."

"Dick Grayson." One of the men held out his hand in greeting. His eyes were light and friendly as he gestured to the woman who's hand he held. "And my wife, Rae."

"Raven, please. I don't know why you all insist on that nickname." She smiled good-naturedly, and Terry took note of her pale lavender hair that complemented her deep purple eyes; eyes that matched her son's. It was certainly unusual, but otherwise she seemed totally normal. Aside, of course, from being surrounded by other former-superheroes.

The last two introduced themselves as Luke Fox and Kate Kane.

"I'm sorry that you won't be meeting Bette tonight, Terry," Kate apologized. "Out of all the family, she couldn't make it. But she does send her best to you, Bruce."

"I'm sure we'll find time to chat privately." Bruce brushed it off with perfect grace before changing the subject. "Before me and Terry interrupted, Dick, what was the story you were sharing with them?"

Dick Grayson smiled, a playfully evil glint in his eyes as he turned purposefully to Terry.

"Did Bruce ever tell you about the time me and Barbara held the GCPD from Black Mask's goons?"

"I've read over a lot of the files but-"

Dick shook his head and interrupted him. "No no, this was something really early on. Some cases, Terry, you can only truly understand by listening to it as a story."

"Wait a minute," Barbara began pointing an accusatory finger at Dick. "This wasn't the time when we were supposed to babysit Black Mask and I put the place in lock-"

"Babs, who's telling the story? Okay Terry, so imagine this..."


	2. It Takes a Team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick shares a quick anecdote about his first impression of Batgirl.

"Okay Terry, so imagine this. It was the first time Batman gave me 'n Babs a mission alone. Granted, it was a really simple one. Busy work mostly. I finally made the transition from those scaly panties to actual pants-"

"Because you were totally _not_ trying to impress me."

"Hey, I was 11 and in love, sue me! Anyways..."

...

The GCPD Headquarters seemed so much more... imposing from the ground level. It was something that unsettled Robin as he stared up at the ancient building. He had grown so accustomed to the view of Gotham from above, that viewing the buildings from below, especially in uniform, seemed too... pedestrian.

"It used to be a jailhouse," Batgirl informed him. "Before Gotham really started growing, they kept a lot of the city's most notorious criminals here. When Blackgate was built just outside of the city, the older GCPD was torn down to make room for a different municipal building, I think... and then they moved here."

"How do you-"

"Seriously, Robin? Remember who my dad is. I tagged along with him more times than he'd care to admit. _You_ should know if you shadow someone for long enough, you'll pick up a few things."

The squad car holding Black Mask in custody finally pulled up to the curb, and a few officers that had been waiting inside came out to greet them.

"Alright Sionis, let's get you booked and-"

"You really think this place is gonna keep me? I've given my men five hours, tops, to come and get me. And this time," he turned pointedly to Batgirl and Robin, "The Bat isn't gonna be an issue."

"Alright, that's enough outta ya," the officer shoved him inside. Most of the GCPD was still divided on how they felt about the Batman, but one thing was certain, if anyone messed with the Batkids, no power on Earth would save them from the officers' wrath.

"Hmph, good riddance," Robin stuck out his tongue at the door that Black Mask entered through.

"We'll give them a few minutes to process him, then we can just hang out in the lobby till Batman needs us."

" _You_ can hang out. I'm gonna hang _up._ By the roof, that is," Robin said as he reached for his grapnel, and took aim for one of the topmost gargoyles.

"He told us to stick together."

"Then come with me!" Robin didn't wait for her answer as he practically flew through the air to a well-placed perch.

He could see Batgirl throw her hands in the air in exasperated defeat as she walked inside on her own.

And it was while he was sitting on that perch, that he began to realize, as much as they got on each others' nerves at this awkward beginning, it was mostly due to the fact that they didn't know one another.

At least during his initial training with Batman, Bruce had shared a lot of himself, and Dick in turn, began to trust him all the more. Having only recently found out Batgirl's identity, and Bruce finally entrusting her with their secrets as well, Dick still hesitated to trust her fully in the field.

She was still fairly new compared to him. Still willing to follow Bruce's advice to the letter, while he had started growing bolder with... improvisation was a good word for it. (Bruce was starting to call it insubordination, but only when he thought Dick was out of ear-shot.)

Sitting with the gargoyles was... boring. Especially after the first 30 minutes of suffering in silence. Robin didn't want to claim defeat too early, but even his 11-year-old patience had its limits.

He joined Batgirl by the 42-minute mark, only to see her using one of the GCPD's terminals behind the front desk.

"How come they let you have access?" Robin asked, wincing as he realized how accusatory he sounded.

Batgirl shrugged, purposefully ignoring the jab. "Told them I had a few suggestions for heightening security before their IT support updates the system next week. They were shocked enough that I knew about the update, they left me to it."

"So... you actually understand all that coding stuff?" Robin finally jumped the counter to get a look at the terminals she had open on the computer.

"When you finish the semester's homework before the teacher's done with the first section of the book, you usually have a lot of time on your hands."

Robin couldn't help but gawk at her until she turned to notice his gaping stare.

"What?"

He shook his head in disbelief. "You're like, some kinda genius, Batgirl. I... "

Shutting his mouth, he knew the feeling that was welling up in the pit of his stomach: guilt. He underestimated his new teammate's value, mistaking her inexperience with naivety. And he knew she deserved an apology.

But he was also 11. And so what little pride and superiority he had, he still wanted to hold onto. Humility would only come with time, after all.

But on this faithful first mission, that humility was about to come sooner than he'd expect...

Over the years, Dick's memory had certainly faded in its ability to recall many different events in his life, and the exact details of how he and Batgirl fended off the first of Black Mask's goons, and how Batgirl managed to place the police HQ into lockdown, were a bit fuzzy. But he definitely remembered that he landed a very _solid_ kick to one guy's jaw, and that it seemed like magic how quickly Batgirl took control of the place.

Looking back, it was also odd how many of the officers had been lured out of building in time for the kids to be left nearly completely isolated in the building with mostly criminals to keep them company. But that was neither here nor there.

"Okay, so you've got us on lock. Now what?" Robin asked as he finished tying the last thug with another around a pillar.

"Now, we check to make sure the lockdown actually worked, and that there's no way in or out. Just because they can't go through the front door, doesn't mean that they won't try to find, say, a window."

He nodded before suggesting, "I'll take even floors, you take odds. Meet at Mask's cell to make sure he's staying put."

They made very quick work of the building, finding a few officers still occupying their positions and letting them know the situation.

"Everything's secure on my end," Batgirl reported.

"Finished checking the roof entrance. They've got a helicopter waiting for you, Mask. Too bad you'll be missing that flight."

"I wouldn't be so sure, kids," Black Mask threatened, when SUDDENLY-

...

"Dick, don't go off script," Barbara chided him. "Don't let him fool you, Terry. Mask threatened us and we held off his goons long enough for my dad to get back-up. Batman was off disarming bombs all over the city that had been planted by Mask to help in his escape-"

"And he woulda gotten away with it too!" Stephanie chimed in, "If it weren't for those meddling kids!"

"The take-away here, Terry," Dick continued on, despite the interruptions, "Is that teamwork makes the dreamwork and ya can't go it alone, etcetera. They're platitudes, but they're true. When you start your own team- and trust me, you will -you gotta be sure to let their skills complement your own. Jack of all trades, master of none, after all."

"Speaking of complementing skills, when you do start, you need to think of your networking," Barbara advised, "Keeping in contact with supers all around the world is a tough job. But knowing how they'll complement your skills... Or even more specifically the type of team you're trying to build... Thats a whole different ballpark."

"Well, don't just leave him hanging like that, Babs," Tim nudged her arm with his own. "Why don't you tell him about how you got the _Birds_ together? Or even how you started the League of Batgirls?"

"Wait wait wait," Terry held his hands up to grab their attention as he asked, "There's a _League_ of Batgirls?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Loosely based off that one episode of 'The Batman'. Most of my 'canon' is gonna be loosely based on amalgamating animated and comic canon, ofc. If you've got questions about it for me, I started a tumblr called 28th-earth that's gonna be a compilation of ideas for this universe, it's mostly batfam-centric for now.  
> Any and all feedback is appreciated and thank you all so much for your interest so far!


	3. Not-So-Social Networking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which: Barbara Gordon shares how & why she started the League of Batgirls.

"There's a _League_ of Batgirls?" Terry asked incredulously.

"There _was_ , emphasis on past-tense," Tiffany confirmed. "Barbara spear-headed the movement after her Birds of Prey team starting branching off on their own-"

"They were shifting focus globally and stepping out of the shadows. I needed a team that could stick to Gotham, and start turning it around in a way that Batman couldn't. By _focusing_ on violence against _women_."

Stephanie placed her arm across Terry's shoulders as she made a sweeping motion with her other one.

"Try to imagine it, Terr-bear, a world where men and women weren't treated equally. Well, fifth-wave feminism would argue that true equality between all the genders hasn't been reached yet-"

"IT HASN'T," Rebecca yelled from across the room.

"-But the second-gen feminist in me would still argue that we've come a long way since the fifties anyways. And yes, I do mean the 1950s."

"Gender equality aside," Barbara interrupted, "There's always quite a few reasons to start a team, Terry. At the time, most of them will seem noble. But regardless of intent, actions have consequences..."

...

"Oracle, I'm not finding anything here. I mean, anything! This whole warehouse looks like it's been dusted on top of being cleared out," Batgirl sighed through the comms. "This place is cleaner than the Manor on a gala night, moments before guests arrive. I think we need to call it a night on this one. Any C-I-Ps for me on the scanner?"

"I really wish you didn't call them C-I-Ps, Steph. Just ask if there's a thug for you to take down or something," Barbara scolded.

"Now where's the fun in that?"

There were a few beats of silence as Batgirl made her way to the rooftops.

"Everything okay, Oracle?"

Barbara took a breath before answering. "Just, a lot on my mind. You've heard about the _Birds_ right?"

"Yeah... I mean, I get it, though? Huntress has been kinda M-I-A lately. Canary's just trying to keep up the legacy, right?"

"Yes but... It was something we started _together_. It feels like I've been 'voted off the island' or something..."

Batgirl stopped her patrol as two... _characters_ in an alley caught her eye. She watched them carefully as she replied, "Well, your _family_ needed you here. Maybe it's time to let Canary take the lead while you start something new. A door closes and all that."

The men in the alley moved onto the street and walked past a couple without causing trouble. Cautious suspicion is what saves lives, but at least tonight, Batgirl was thankful that it was unwarranted. She continued her patrol heading deeper through the Narrows.

"Hey, you know you're crossing into Row's territory, right?" Barbara reminded her.

"Maybe I wanted to drop by and see Bluebird," Batgirl quipped.

"Bruce gives her a hard enough time as it is, I don't think she needs you bothering her too."

"Please, he practically welcomed her to the cave with open arms. You know he still gives me the 'You don't even live here' line? I'm hurt, Oracle. I've had to start therapy because of him."

"Haven't we all," Barbara said with a smirk gracing her face for the first time that night.

"So, not to seem ungrateful for all the help that you've given me, but what is the next step for you, anyways? If you're not following the _Birds_ ' change of scene... are you... gonna stay here in Gotham?"

Barbara could hear the silent 'with me' that trailed after.

"Maybe... I'm not sure yet. Bruce said he'll always welcome my help. And God knows you can use all the help you can get," she teased.

"I'll have you know, I took out _Riddler_ single-handedly just last week!"

"Yeah, and Tim told me this morning about how you oh-so-sneakily asked him, what was it? The synonym for-"

"Fine! I got help with the brains part, but the brawn was all me! I mean, I learned from the best, right?"

"Speaking of, did Cass tell you she might be visiting soon?"

Batgirl fell off the roof she had just landed on, caught off guard in several ways. On instinct, she pulled her grapnel out and shot through the air to the top of the theater across from where she nearly went _splat_.

"I - _huff_ \- thought - _huff_ \- Orphan was - _huff_ \- okay give me a minute - _huff_ -."

"You okay? You're really close to the clocktower now, but I can get Bluebird if-"

"I'm fine, just lost my footing," Batgirl waved her hand as if to dismiss the thought, though just for her own benefit as the comm link was on 'audio-only'.

"I thought Orphan was still cleaning up that heroin operation in Hong Kong? Or did all the drugs disappear overnight?"

"Her mission there has been complete for a while now. She told me that she misses Gotham, and us..."

"Gimme a sec, I'm almost there, and you know how much I hate the feedback from the comms." She went offline before Barbara could give a reply.

In walked Stephanie, not too long after.

"With Cass back... I actually wanted to run something by the two of you," Barbara continued as Steph made her way to Babs' mini fridge.

"If it means more pop for me in the future, I'm all ears." Steph grabbed the last Dr. Pepper from eh fridge and opened up a cabinet, swiping a box of frosted flakes (which was labeled ' _Dick's. Do Not Touch_.'), before settling down on the 'crash couch' as it had been nicknamed.

Barbara didn't even bat an eye at her choice of snack fuel for the night.

"I'm thinking... How does a 'League of Batgirls' sound to you?"

"Well, it sounds like we're teetering on copyright infringement. How do we know there's not already, say, a _League of Robins_? There's definitely one of _Shadows_ , and of _Assassins_ , and of _Justice_ , and-"

"Steph, I'm serious. There's... There's actually a few teens around Gotham that we've really inspired. They're all unorganized, and untrained. But... they've got potential."

"Anyone we know?"

"Actually, there's one... You remember Luke and Tam's younger sister?"

"No way, little Tiff? Please don't tell me she's-"

"She's made her own costume," Barbara pulled security footage from around Gotham. Intel that she had been gathering over what looked like a few weeks. "Reminds me a lot of my first crack at a batsuit. Although, her's is.. a lot more practical... And pink."

Steph laughed, "Sounds like she's got style at least! Anyone else?"

Barbara pulled more images up of an older woman and another young girl.

"A former roommate of mine, Alysia Yeoh, who I think was inspired after an... incident that forced me to leave our lease. She's been operating part-time for years, stopping mostly muggings. Small stuff, but there's a lot of heart behind it. And Nell Little. She's been a _fangirl_ for a long time, but it looks like she's started to take on the cowl for herself too. She's probably the most untrained out of the three, but again, there's a lot of heart behind her own crusade."

"Please. Sounds like by the time you and Cass are through with them, they just might be able to take over for _me_."

"But we need you, _too_ , Steph." She turned herself from the holo-screens to face Stephanie fully.

This made Stephanie pause mid-bite, unable to finish off the rest of Dick's cereal suddenly.

"What are you talking about? You two always have-"

"Cass has exceptional skill, but she's very... rough. You of all people should know that. And I've been out of the field for too long. Running ops is very different from running on instinct out there. This is going to be a team effort if we're going to start something here, Steph. And we need you to keep us on track and, well... realistically optimistic."

"Okay, but Bruce literally just told me yesterday that I'm too optimistic-"

"He told Dick that all the time too, and we all know he's going to be leading the Justice League soon enough. It's actually kind of funny..." Barbara turned back to her screens to clear them out before shutting the system down for the night.

"You remind me so much of him when you're out there. And I think that's what worries Bruce. You've always been more of a _Robin_ than a _Batgirl_ to him..."

...

"After that night," Barbara continued, breaking from her reverie, "We slowly started a new approach of protecting the women of Gotham. With the help of the Martha Wayne Foundation, by day we provided self-defense training for the women of Gotham. And by night, we slowly started growing our new League. Tiffany was our first recruit from that crusade, and probably the longest standing member."

"Best years of my life, for sure," Tiffany smiled.

"But the main take-away is this, Terry. When you start your own team, whether is be a partnership or a group, you need to take everyone's strengths and weaknesses into account, and find that perfect balance."

"It's something I've always struggled with, myself" Stephanie added. "Finding balance. But really... That's kinda what this is all about." The conversation took a beat of silence as everyone mulled over Steph's words.

"It really is, isn't it?" Terry asked. "Gotham. The quest for Justice... this... family."

Steph smiled as he caught on. "You know, the best kinds of families, are the ones that you choose for yourself..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idek when the next chap will be out b/c we're getting down to the wire in some of my classes rn so... we'll see... hope y'all enjoyed this!

**Author's Note:**

> this is a purely self-indulgent story. if you happen to enjoy this, plz by all means let me know! if not, there's other stuff for you to read dude. don't waste your time on something you don't like, life's too short for that
> 
> In a way, this is going to be a retelling of some classic stories, and maybe a few made up completely by myself. All to fit into a giant, convoluted narrative that allows nearly all of Bruce's allies to exist in one world, at one time. (Give or take a few personal favorites and a few OCs b/c WHY NOT)
> 
> I'd like to thank Roy Westerman's Earth-27 project for being a big inspiration, but also a reason why I wanted to build my own narrative (altho i was very tempted to piggyback off of the one already built. hence why i'll refer to this narrative as Earth-28. Why not let the relation on my end stick?) Hopefully as I build this up it will become something cohesive and enjoyable, but also distinctly my own. Then again, with any fan work, there's only so much that you can make your own...
> 
> Anyways. Thanks for reading!


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